History of Hull: Railways - Episode 6 : The Hull and Barnsley Railway

In this final episode of the first series, we look at the East Riding end of Hull's last and longest railway, through a story of corporate shenanigans, debt, and possibly the prettiest stretch of line in all of the East Riding!

If you're anything like me, viewing historical Ordnance Survey maps side by side with modern satellite views will certainly eat up far too much of your time!

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[peasoup]

I have no idea how I found this. I’m Canadian. You make EXCELLENT videos. I shall dominate my local pub with Hull trivia.

[alanrobertson]

Excellent series. Long after you are gone I reckon this will be still the best series on Hull railways. Generally the railways that were built last, towards the end of the 19th century, closed first, but they are the most interesting with great viaducts and tunnels. I showed my wife the clip where you explained that the section of the H&B through the Wolds was the most beautiful place on earth!

[thesudricmerman]

Am hoping one day a new build hull and Barnsley locomotive trust will come together and build a new hull and Barnsley railway locomotive design

[sicow]

We rode on mountain bikes through the cuttings from Eppleworth Road to Little Weighton several times in 1988-90 as kids. One of the huge high level bridges still survived above the cutting. It seemed deeper than 90' at the time! After avoiding the station at Little Weighton we cut through a farmers field after Little Weighton and entered the Drewton tunnel. We rode right through the tunnel with bike lights. You could still see the impressions of the sleepers on the gravel of the track bed. The air shafts dripping with water seemed huge! After the tunnel we came into the Drewton cutting, it was not filled in with rubbish as now. At that time there was still telegraph poles complete with insulators along the line, missing only the wires. The bridge he stands in front of after the tunnel could be crossed as then it was free of bushes and used as access for the farmers to the cutting bed. It seemed a magical place, as though a train may come at any moment. Looking back as an adult and looking at this excellent series on Hull's railways it always amazes me how quickly the old railways were ripped up and built upon. I suspect that this was on purpose to make the closure permanent. Think now with our clogged roads and climate change how useful some of these old railways would be in reducing traffic and pollution.

[markp]

The destruction of our 'green' railway transport network is disgusting.

[MrJohntheHarp]

Thank you for this. As a 50s Hull kid I've been to most of these places, but never understood them?
Thanks to you I have a much better understanding now.
That big tunnel and the air vents on the fields always baffled me esp'.
So once again a big thank you, my headache has finally gone! John

[chriswade]

Fascinating.ivealways had an interest in the H&B railway, I love underdog railway companies

[ryanelger]

Like you, it was the H&B that got me interested in railway history and the multitude of disused lines around the country. I'd moved to North Cave in 2007 and it was the civil engineering surrounding the railway on the edge of the village that really got me hooked. Having suffered with the slow EYMS bus to and from Hull I found myself longing for the return of the H&B albeit routed into Paragon for better interchanges with other services.

I was lucky enough to see one of the shorter tunnels on a warm summer afternoon walking the dog. If memory serves all I had to find it was a print out of an OS map and my Dad's sense of direction. From what I understand the owner of the land surrounding the western portal of Drewton isn't very keen on people trying to visit which is a shame as it's such an important part of Hull & the East Riding's history.

[chrisclarke]

Brilliant series, very much enjoyed and look forward to the history of Yorkshire Railways.

[christinecrockford]

Gosh ur so nice and love the way u narrate your videos. I'm not intrested in trains, but there is somthing about disused railway line and guess its the hole busy industry and then back to beautiful nature. I find it fascinating. Ps love ur accent.

[poshbird]

Another superb video... Thank you.. Glen 👌👌👌🏆🏆🏆

[llttf]

Very enjoyable series of videos. It would be a shame if these were not picked up for broadcast to a wider audience. I look forward to your future efforts.

[davidhughes]

I thoroughly enjoyed 9 hours of your videos today!... Regards the WelshMan in Liverpool. We messaged before regarding Welsh Castles!

[baderalbahrani]

Thank you very much (Hull History Nerd) for this video and your efforts 👌 in presenting the sites with dates, with the reasons for their establishment and how they work, especially the old railway line 👌.. From this ancient city of Hull and passing through the capital London to the county of Wales.

[susannejones]

At a Local History Group of the U3A in Hornsea, I showed them Episode 3 - Hull to Hornsea Railway and they thoroughly enjoyed it and thought the commentary was excellent. Good job.

[Charlie-wood]

Thank you so much for this and the whole series. I’m sorry my dad isn’t here to watch your work on these subjects.

[garrymartin]

An excellent series very well made and presented. Makes you wonder what would have happened if the merger with the Midland Railway (a very big hitter) had come off, thus giving the North Eastern an extremely serious rival and creating consequences that would have rippled on for decades to come.

[soundnicetome]

Excellent railway history...presented very well...I hope you can continue to put more railway history video`s in the future...a big pat on the back for your efforts sir...well done.

[asc.]

21.18. I used to sledge there as a boy, seemingly used for doging now, oh how times change.

[martingreen]

I worked for a period at the glass plant in Cudworth (pronounced locally without the w - Cud'orth). They still had a line coming into the site and in the early 2000's were looking at the feasibility to reopen it for glass container shipping. This was a branch from the Cudworth branch of the line, although the branch was built after the closure of Hull-Barnsley proper as the plant was not built until around 1946